Emergency services in New Zealand are searching for several people, including a child, following a landslide that struck a campsite in Mount Maunganui during record-breaking torrential rain that has caused widespread damage across the North Island. Emergency minister Mark Mitchell described parts of the east coast as resembling a ‘war zone’, with helicopters deployed to rescue families from rooftops and local states of emergency declared in five regions.
The landslide hit on Thursday morning at a campground in the tourist hotspot of Mount Maunganui. Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman William Pike said the first responders heard calls for help from inside the rubble. Witness Alister McHardy told the NZ Herald he heard ‘rolling thunder and cracking of trees’ before seeing the hillside give way, with people trapped and screaming.
An Australian man, Sonny Worrall, narrowly escaped the landslide while swimming in a nearby pool, describing it as ‘the scariest thing I’ve ever felt in my life’. In nearby Papamoa, one person suffered serious injuries and two others are missing after a landslide hit a home. Police are also searching for a man in his 40s who was swept away at a river crossing near Warkworth.
Communities have rallied to assist, with a 94-year-old man rescued from floodwaters in Coromandel and a woman saved by kayak as neck-high water surrounded her home. Tairāwhiti Fire and Emergency posted images showing houses inundated with mud and debris.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the government was doing everything possible to support those affected and thanked emergency crews. The National Emergency Management Agency warned that a tropical low would bring more heavy rain on Thursday, increasing the risk of further landslides and flooding on already saturated ground.
